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Responses to Snowden’s Asylum Requests

The chances of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden finding an easy path out of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport looked increasingly slim, as the former security contractor and fugitive waited for responses to asylum requests he said he has submitted to more than 20 countries.

Following is a list of the countries to which Mr. Snowden has applied and their public responses to date. Those that have said his application could be considered only if he reaches their territory are listed as “unlikely” because Russia so far has been unwilling to let him leave Russia without valid travel documents.

UNLIKELY

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—Austria: The interior minister said Mr. Snowden’s application for asylum isn’t legally valid because he hasn’t applied in person inside the country, so it hasn’t started processing his case. Spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck added that if Mr. Snowden arrived in Austria, there wouldn’t be a legal basis for deportation since there isn’t an international warrant for him.

—Brazil: The foreign ministry said it received Mr. Snowden’s request for asylum but that it wouldn’t respond.

—Ecuador: President Rafael Correa said in an interview with Britain’s Guardian published Tuesday that Ecuador isn’t considering the request and wouldn’t until Mr. Snowden could get himself to its territory.

—Finland: The Foreign Ministry confirmed receipt of a faxed request from Mr. Snowden Monday but said it hasn’t yet been processed.

—France: France’s government said that it has rejected a request for asylum filed by Mr. Snowden, without citing precise reasons.

—Germany: The country’s interior and foreign ministries indicated in a joint statement they were rejecting Mr. Snowden’s application. “The conditions have not been met,” a foreign ministry spokesman said.

—Iceland: The interior ministry said it had received a letter concerning Mr. Snowden’s situation but that “applicants must be in the country in order for applications to be accepted as valid and given formal consideration.”

—India: A spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the embassy in Moscow received a request for asylum from Mr. Snowden. “Following careful examination we have concluded that we see no reason to accede to the Snowden request,” he said.

—Ireland: A spokesman for the Justice Department Tuesday said it doesn’t comment on individual asylum cases, but that Irish legislation permits only asylum requests from people who have already landed in the country.

—Italy: Italy won’t accept the application for political asylum from Mr. Snowden as it doesn’t fulfill the legal conditions for it to be assessed, the country’s Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said.

—Netherlands: A spokeswoman for the Dutch ministry of justice confirmed that the Dutch Embassy in Moscow received an asylum request. She said the request will be denied because–under Dutch law–applicants can’t seek asylum when they aren’t physically present in the Netherlands.

—Norway: The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration officially rejected Mr. Snowden’s asylum application because “only refugees in the realm or at the Norwegian border have the right to asylum in Norway.”

—Poland: The Central European country is unlikely to grant Mr. Snowden asylum, a Twitter account that Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski is known to have used personally in the past said Tuesday. “A document, that does not meet the formal conditions for an asylum request, has arrived,” Mr. Sikorski wrote. “But even if it did [meet conditions], I won’t give a positive recommendation.”

—Russia: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Mr. Snowden had withdrawn his request for asylum. Late Monday, President Vladimir Putin said Mr. Snowden would have to give up his public disclosures of sensitive information if he wanted to stay in Russia.

—Spain: Foreign Affairs Minister José Manuel García-Margallo on Tuesday said Mr. Snowden must be in the country to make an asylum request. A ministry spokeswoman clarified that Spanish embassies aren’t considered national soil for this purpose, only Spain’s own territory and its land borders.

—Switzerland: Under rules that went into effect last September, Switzerland no longer accepts applications for asylum at its embassies. Instead, potential asylum seekers can request a three-month humanitarian visa that allows them to travel to the Alpine country. Humanitarian visas are granted when a person’s life is in immediate danger. Celine Kohlprath, a spokeswoman for Switzerland’s migration department, said Mr. Snowden had yet to apply for a humanitarian visa.

POSSIBILITIES

—Bolivia: A spokeswoman for the country’s foreign ministry, Consuelo Ponce, “neither confirms or denies” reports that Mr. Snowden has requested asylum in Bolivia. She reiterated Tuesday what President Evo Morales said late Monday in an interview with the Kremlin-funded RT television channel, which was that Bolivia would consider a request for asylum “if there is a request.”

—Venezuela: President Nicolas Maduro told reporters in Moscow Tuesday that no request had yet been received and avoided answering when asked if he might take Mr. Snowden back to Venezuela with him when he leaves Russia on Tuesday night. “He deserves the world’s protection,” Russian news agencies quoted Mr. Maduro as saying.

NO INFORMATION

—China: At a daily news briefing on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she had no information about Mr. Snowden’s efforts to apply for asylum.

—Cuba: The Cuban Embassy in Moscow declined to comment.

—Nicaragua

Corrections & Amplifications

An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed India’s response to Italy by putting the India information in the Italy section.

Comments (5 of 41)

I'm laughing at all this phony outrage: US and foreign. If you were paying attention, you'd have known this was going on for years. What did you think the NSA was doing? Also, I love that all these "enlightened" European countries that only give "asylum" if you are already there. Capt. Yossarian is rolling with laughter.

11:03 am July 3, 2013

lucapacioli wrote:

In addition to a flawed security check ( how Snowden got a high-level security "clearance" is a wonder of incompetence --they used to be done THOROUGHLY by the FBI ), it seems Mr. Snowden is not all that bright
and incapable of thinking a few steps ahead. Perhaps he should have been asked to play chess before being
hired. The Russians and Chinese have accepted all the information he stole and given him.in return...nothing.

To be sure, had Obama not been elected to Congress, it is unlikely HE would have been cleared at a a high level under old standards.

9:52 am July 3, 2013

Gupta wrote:

India's response is so predictable .. sometimes I feel so ashamed that I am from that country !!

2:26 am July 3, 2013

Gary Ru wrote:

I think Snowden should request not asylum but citizenship. There is no necessity to reach territories of the requested states in this case

11:48 pm July 2, 2013

kafantaris wrote:

We've lost our moral compass in dealing with Snowden. Let him go where he wants. The damage is done.
There's much work ahead of us here at home.
We need to come to terms with things; we need to find ourselves.
We need to heal as a people and as a nation.
This'll take time.
That's OK.
We'll take it slow.